Creation and Authority.--The American Battle Monuments
Commission was created by act of Congress approved March 4, 1923
(42 Stat. 1509;
36 U.S.C. 121).
It derives its authority from this and
subsequent acts and Executive orders (36 U.S.C. ch. 8; Executive
Orders 6614 of February 26, 1934, and 6690 of April 25, 1934).

Purpose.--In broad outline, the principal purposes of the Commission
are (1) to commemorate the services of the American forces
in Europe during World War I by the erection of suitable memorials,
the preparation and publication of historical information, and
in other ways; (2) to administer and maintain the American national
cemeteries and memorials in Europe; and (3) to exercise control over
the erection of memorials in Europe by American citizens, States,
municipalities, or associations.

Construction of American Memorials in Europe.--The construction
program of the Commission, now completed, included:

The erection of a memorial chapel in each of the eight American
cemeteries in Europe and the construction of service buildings, caretakers'
houses, and masonry walls at the cemeteries where needed.
The names of these cemeteries and their locations are as follows:

Near Bellicourt, France
Near Chateau-Thierry, France
Near Ypres, Belgium
On Blanc Mont Ridge, in the Champagne Region, France
Tours, France

The placing of two bronze memorial tablets, one at Chaumont,
France, and the other at Souilly, France, to mark, respectively, the
headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force and the American
First Army during the World War.

Administration and Maintenance of American National Cemeteries
and Memorials in Europe.--The Commission is responsible
for the administration, supervision, and maintenance of the 8 national
cemeteries in Europe, containing the graves of 30,907 American
dead, and of the chapels and other memorial features listed above.

Preparation and Publication of Historical Information.--The
Commission has prepared and published a book entitled American
Armies and Battlefields in Europe. This book, which was issued in
April 1939, is a revision and elaboration of A Guide to the American
Battle Fields in Europe, published by the Commission in 1927. It
is the result of many years of work and is a combined guide to the
American battlefields (World War) in Europe and concise history
and reference work covering the activities of the American forces
overseas during the period 1917-1919. The book has 547 pages and
is profusely illustrated, containing 561 official photographs from
American, German, and Allied sources, 120 small maps and sketches,
of which 27 are in color, 9 colored insert maps and charts, and 3
large-scale colored maps covering the operations of American divisions
in the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives.
It is sold by the Superintendent of Documents,
Washington, D.C., and by bookstores. Other historical data covering operations of
American divisions during the World War were published in 1944 and
are also sold by the Superintendent of Documents.

The Commission has taken numerous photographs showing the
terrain of the various battlefields where American forces were engaged
during the World War. These photographs will be of wide
interest and of great value to historians.

Control Over the Erection of Additional Memorials in Europe
by Americans.--Under agreements with the French and Belgian
Governments, no World War memorial may be erected in these countries
by American without the advance approval of the American
Battle Monuments Commission. Many reasons made it apparent that
the number of such memorials should be restricted. The policy finally
adopted, however, does not prevent the Commission from approving
such memorials if they are utilitarian in nature and meet certain other
required standards.